What Piqued Your Interest About Your Current Profession?

[Taffi Abernathy]

I have always been interested in how people arrive at their job choices. Were you influenced by a role model? Did a particular event or set of circumstances guide your career trajectory? What interests you about your current field of endeavor?

[keschete]

I was on target to go to Vet School, got side tracked by a man, decided I needed a job when I got my BSN instead of playing Vet School Lottery (less spots than Med School).

Ended up a Nurse and knew that I didn't want to work in the ER forever as someone else's slave....so I became an NP. Good money, always jobs available and I am happy.

But my suggestion, never make any major decisions based on an infatuation with a member of the opposite sex. It worked out okay for me, but I changed my goal based on what I thought was "love".

[jatco]

I wanted to be 'a constructional engineer, but my Dad said, "Go into business..." - so I did.. for more than 30years - then the day came where I had to move on.. and back, sortof, to what I wanted to do. Though now, I'm a carpenter, 'constructional enginering' is a side-step of the original goals.
Time and age has a large bearing on what 1 can accomplish...in a given lifetime....!

[rr-nyc]

I originally chose Pharmaceutical sales when I was still in college. Both my parents are physicians and I worked at both their offices during the summers. All day long, I'd see these guys and girls come in, chat and with the doc for a few minutes and off they went. Other times, they would bring in lunch and flirt with the girls running the office or take the entire office for happy hour or a nice dinner.

If my dad wanted to go fly fishing in Montana, the rep would pick up the phone and of they went. If my softball team needed new jerseys, a quick call to the pharma rep would make new jerseys appear (This was in the 80's before the DOJ/OIG came in to change marketing practices). I couldn't believe someone paid these guys to have this much fun without spending a dime of their own money!

I new I would never be an office guy so I thought that would be a great job. I spent 4 years pharmaceutical sales and later moved into medical devices to where I am today. I'm out of the day to day sales but still love the business. I wake up and grab my blackberry and I'm working. I could be on a chairlift in Vail or in a Gondola in Venice and as long as I can talk on my phone, I'm getting my job done. I talk to my boss maybe once a week and I fly to my office in suburban Chicago every other month. Aside from that, I'm where ever I want to be.

I would love to have an opportunity to have my own business sometime in the future but for now, I'm more than comfortable.

[sea-dweller]

Great question, Faith.

When I was young, I was always interested in electronics, telecommunications and radio communications. That interest let to a career in computer communications, now known as computer networking. Now, I help sell computer networking technology products.

[MitchSteel]

I wanted to be an airline pilot, cuz I thought there'd be chicks and money......boy, was I wrong

[shandy]

After a number of jobs working for other people and always wanting to do something that helped others and that was stimulating to me I ended up doing what I do!

I don't think of it as work, more pure bliss everyday getting up and working with people who are doing things that stimulate and excite and to be allowed into that world.

As long as I have the clients I do and as long as I am of some form of positive use to them I never want to retire!

[Captainz]

Originally Posted by MitchSteel

I wanted to be an airline pilot, cuz I thought there'd be chicks and money......boy, was I wrong

+1

And dont forget One leg days on the L1011 with a 58 hour Honolulu layovers.

CZ

[G.A.R.Y]

Like working with my hands

http://www.guns2roses.com/portfolio2.htm

[Ultraman]

My father, always wanted to help him do his books to ease his workload. I always enjoy the financial aspects of the family business as well as young.

[BarkMaster]

The fact that George Orwell was off by only a few years.... (1984)

[walds11]

Man, where can I get a job like that? I am in retail banking. I enjoy what I do, but hate being tied down to the office and micro-managed like an SOB.

Originally Posted by rr-nyc

I originally chose Pharmaceutical sales when I was still in college. Both my parents are physicians and I worked at both their offices during the summers. All day long, I'd see these guys and girls come in, chat and with the doc for a few minutes and off they went. Other times, they would bring in lunch and flirt with the girls running the office or take the entire office for happy hour or a nice dinner.

If my dad wanted to go fly fishing in Montana, the rep would pick up the phone and of they went. If my softball team needed new jerseys, a quick call to the pharma rep would make new jerseys appear (This was in the 80's before the DOJ/OIG came in to change marketing practices). I couldn't believe someone paid these guys to have this much fun without spending a dime of their own money!

I new I would never be an office guy so I thought that would be a great job. I spent 4 years pharmaceutical sales and later moved into medical devices to where I am today. I'm out of the day to day sales but still love the business. I wake up and grab my blackberry and I'm working. I could be on a chairlift in Vail or in a Gondola in Venice and as long as I can talk on my phone, I'm getting my job done. I talk to my boss maybe once a week and I fly to my office in suburban Chicago every other month. Aside from that, I'm where ever I want to be.

I would love to have an opportunity to have my own business sometime in the future but for now, I'm more than comfortable.

[CoopJr]

I loved drawing as a kid as well as tinkering with my bicycles and motorcycles. In high school, mechanical and architectural drawing were my favorite classes....this all led down the path to engineering.

[rolexgiants]

i always knew 100 percent of the time that my day would always end at 4pm sharp...oh yeah.... and never nights and weekends!!

[TerryF]

I work for the bomb squad...
I'm Irish...
I like blowing shit up...
Nuff said!!

[figbo]

M s

[Welshwatchman]

My formal professional qualifications had little to do with my eventual career.

I just adapted and survived.

[Kokyuryoku]

Originally Posted by Welshwatchman

My formal professional qualifications had little to do with my eventual career.

I just adapted and survived.

Same here bro

At high school I wanted to be an artist, but the principal and my mother had other plans so it was off to university to study science I went While at uni I started studying to be a vet, but like Kaya, I met a girl, changed from a Bvs to a Bsc and followed her to Japan where I ended up teaching English. I had been interested in teaching ever since high school where I was a tutor, but I had never really thought about it as a career until I came here (there's not much else a foreigner can do really) With the help of my wife I started my own little school. At first it was hard, but once I knew this was what I was going to do, I returned to NZ numerous times to do various courses about teaching English as a second and foreign language. I found the more I learned the better my teaching became and the more student numbers increased. I have never advertised, all through word of mouth. While I may not be the biggest, I'm still here At the moment, I'm at the dissertation stage of my Masters. But I may be making a career change later this year. My mothers recent health problems are making me reconsider my current career path. Maybe, I'll become an artist

[joeychitwood]

For no reason in particular, I decided at age 15 that I wanted to be a heart surgeon or an ER doctor. I pursued the dream without any further thought until I reached a point of being so far in student loan debt that I couldn't turn back. By the time I began to question my choice, it was too late. I've been an ER medical director since graduating from residency.

What does anyone know about career choices in high school? Yet, many of us make that huge decision based on no thought and no real-world knowledge. If I knew then what I know now, would I have become a physician? Absolutely not! (I would have become an airline pilot for the chicks and the money.)

[Kapture1]

My dad use to bring me to work on Saturdays and Sundays so he could get some paperwork finished (Family business... I was about 5 then). It just made since to go into the same line of work as my father and grandfather, felt like thats all I wanted to do.

[Kapture1]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

(I would have become an airline pilot for the chicks and the money.)

[Captainz]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

(I would have become an airline pilot for the chicks and the money.)

Only if you knew! I wish I could have been a Doctor<-----For the $$$$ and Nurses!!

CZ

[Yazo]

When I was 14/15 years old I saw this commercial:



Have wanted to work for this company since then - @ 26 my dream was realized.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by Captainz

Only if you knew! I wish I could have been a Doctor<-----For the $$$$ and Nurses!!

The greatest thing about your job? You go into your office (the cockpit) and lock the door. If any one of your "customers" tries to enter and talk or complain to you, they can be shot!

[rsg]

I was working at a company called KLA Instruments (now KLA Tencor) fitting fiberglass cabinets to the equipment they built. It was a crappy job of grinding and bonding fiberglass, with a cigarette hanging from my mouth and no respirator. One of the other guys in the shop walked in to work late all dressed up and we started giving him a hard time. He told me he interviewed for a job at a new start up called ACS, I thought what the heck and applied the next day.
To my suprise they actually hired me, my first day on the job I had no idea what I was supposed to do or what they even made.
They were the first company to manufacture angioplasty catheters, the guys who invented angioplasty catheters were the founders.
More than 20 years later with over 100 US patents for medical devices and I'm still loving every day of my job. Funny how things work out.
The best part is that I get to positively impact the lives of people all over the world.

[rr-nyc]

Originally Posted by walds11

Man, where can I get a job like that? I am in retail banking. I enjoy what I do, but hate being tied down to the office and micro-managed like an SOB.

Get in to sales for a industry with deep pockets

[Goodwatch]

After I finished high school (the former Dutch educational system is hard to explain here, I probably must say college), I was drafted in the Army. I had no clue as to what I wanted to do after that. I was asked my my superiors if I wanted an Army career but I passed. Just before joining the Army I had to fill a gap of about 8 months so I worked for a temp agency. One of the jobs was at ICI, in a polythene lab. This stuck on my CV so after I left the Army I was approached by a regional employment agency for a job at a bulk liquid storage terminal. That company is now called Vopak. I applied for a job and was hired in 1980.

I started as a field operator, and progressed to First or Senior Operator. After that I went through a string of courses and trainings and was appointed Shift Administrator in 1991. I already has expressed interest in a job in IT, mostly because it had become a hobby.

I was approached by my company to fulfil a temporary job at the IT department. I started following evening courses and was asked to become a member of a development team at the head office in 1994. In 1996 I was asked for a position at my local IT department as my predecessor had left to pursue his dream: to own and run a small hotel in mid-Spain.

The rest is history as they say. For years I kept on studying and even managed to get a science degree. Now that I'm 50 I have slowed down on that and am actually looking for another challenge. I've seen it all and done it all within my own field.

Things are about to change the coming years and I don't know what my role will be or that I want to be part of that. We will see

[walds11]

Definitely not in financial services sales like I am in now I would love to be able to work from home or atleast have the option to work from home. Life is short, my kids are young and I don't want to miss anything.

Originally Posted by rr-nyc

Get in to sales for a industry with deep pockets

[daveathall]

While at school I didn't want to go on a nature ramble, so I used the excuse that I was interested in joining the army when I left school in the following couple of months, I went to the army careers office and joined the army, 38 years later..........still in.

[OrchidDR]

My dad sat me down in May of 1976 and told me, "Son, do you want to live to be 21?" At the time, I was an 18 year old hell-raiser on the streets of South Florida and it was an epiphany for me. I joined the Navy and the rest is history.